Words Left Unsaid
by licoriceswirl
Summary: "Aerith is here. I can feel it in my soul." The only time Cloud speaks from his heart is when he speaks of Aerith. Set in game during Forgotten City when Aerith kneels at the altar to pray for Holy.


The night was spent in a restless sleep. Tossing and turning, he felt anxious and a little apprehensive. Although, his anxiety and apprehension was due mostly to the fact that he was afraid, not of Sephiroth, but of himself. What had he done? What made him do that to her? Of all people, she was not the one he would harm in anyway, but there was a part of himself that he didn t understand and it scared him. It was the main reason he could not get any sleep that night.

He sat up in bed and looked around, it was still late at night, probably an hour before dawn if he could guess by how dark and cold it felt.

_They say the darkest and coldest hour is just before dawn._

It was so quiet the others were still fast asleep. They had been running like mad chasing after Sephiroth and Aerith who had gone off on her own. They were worried about her. He could tell by their hushed voices when they spoke of the need to get to her as quickly as possible, and by the nervous and worried looks they gave him. Or maybe they were afraid of him? He did give the black materia to Sephiroth, and he did ... harm Aerith. He shivered when he thought about what he did.

He then heard a sound. It was like a faint voice calling to him. This forgotten city made him feel nervous; its ghostly echoes and empty shell buildings was like a foreboding prophecy to his own loneliness and solitude. They tried to speak to him, the consciousnesses of the Ancients, but it was no good, he was not an Ancient and he could not understand them. Aerith probably could.

_Aerith._

That voice. It grew louder and sounded vaguely familiar. His intrigue made him stand up out of bed and walk towards the window, as if to hear it better.

It was a tiny voice that he heard, not from his ears, or even inside his head. It was strange, but it seemed to come from within him. "I feel it" he mused aloud.

There was a noise behind him. "What's wrong?" Cloud turned to see Vincent. His voice always sounded emotionless, but Cloud could tell he knew something was amiss. Tifa was up too, and had followed Vincent.

Cloud looked at them. They looked frightened, at least Tifa did. Even though Vincent did not show it he knew he was eager to hurry and find Aerith. "Aerith is here," he said, "and so is Sephiroth." It was somewhat strange but he could feel both of their presences close by.

Tifa seemed a little surprised. She stammered a bit, "But, how can you tell?"

"It's not an excuse!" Cloud said that a bit defensively as if he were under attack. He sighed. "I feel it in my soul."

Vincent, noticing a change in his attitude and speech stepped in as to prevent Cloud from saying any more things from the heart in front of them. "If that is true, we should hurry. Something terrible could happen at any moment."

Cloud pondered over what he said for a moment. "Right." Vincent was more influential about getting involved in someone else's troubles other than his usual aloofness. If Vincent was worried, that meant he really should be. "Let's hurry and find Aerith."

They all seemed to agree on that and left without waking the others. As they left the shell house the outside air was quiet, too quiet and still. The sun had not yet risen and it was still dark. Yet there seemed to be a glow coming from somewhere, and it was near that place they had been to earlier. As they approached Cloud heard it again, although this time it was louder and now he could clearly tell whose voice it was.

"Aerith's voice," he said with certainty. It came from that place with the lake. "Coming from there." The others looked over to where he gestured. The place did seem to be emanating a strange glow, or maybe it was an aura, but either way walking up to it gave them a sinking feeling in their guts.

Cloud noticed when they entered the shell that the area that was blocked off before by a strange looking fish was now open and it led to a staircase going down below. He did not like this place. It was too pure as if crystalline and too clean like an anesthetic. These crystal stairs leading down into a white stone palace resembled a tomb rather than anything else. He just wanted to get Aerith and get out of here.

They saw her in the middle of a platform. She was all alone, and kneeling. It sort of looked like she was praying. Vincent ran up to the platform stairs, but Cloud put out his arm. He wanted to get her himself. He wanted to tell her something, something that was weighing on his mind. Vincent nodded and stayed behind.

He jumped the stairs one by one until he reached the center platform. She was still kneeling and did not look up to notice his presence. She looked deeply immerged in whatever it was she was doing.

His hand reached for his sword. _What?_ He shook it of. That was strange, just like before, he didn't just do that. His body acted entirely apart from his control. He started to walk in front of Aerith. _No, not again._ His hand raised the sword above his head. _Stop!_

"Cloud!" Tifa's voice drew him back to reality.

"What are you doing?" Vincent's voice sounded gruff.

Cloud put his sword down. He felt ashamed. He knew Sephiroth must be around. "What are you making me do?"

Aerith looked up when he spoke. Her eyes were beautiful and innocent. He loved her eyes when they looked upon his. He could do nothing but be locked in their gaze. He wanted to stay like this forever. He had been meaning to tell her something ever since the disaster at the Temple, but she left and he did not get a chance to. In his subconscious he apologized to her for what he did, but that was not all. He wanted to tell her something else, something from his heart. He wanted to tell her not to worry, because he loved her.

He was so engrossed by her gaze that he did not notice the dark figure barreling down onto her from above.


End file.
